Associations of changes in physical activity and discretionary screen time with incident obesity: Findings from the UK Biobank

Oral Presentation A10.4

Authors

  • Susan Paudel University of Sydney
  • Borja del Pozo Cruz University of Southern Denmark
  • Elif Inan-Eroglu University of Sydney
  • Matthew Ahmadi University of Sydney
  • Emmanuel Stamatakis University of Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/hfjc.v14i3.421

Keywords:

Television Viewing, Discretionary Computer Use, Adiposity, Obesity, Longitudinal

Abstract

Background: Physical activity (PA) and discretionary screen time (DST; television and computer use during leisure) are both associated with obesity risk, but little evidence exists on their combined influence over time. Purpose: To examine the joint associations of concurrent changes in PA and DST with incident obesity. Methods: Changes in PA and DST over time were defined using departure from sex-specific baseline tertiles and categorised as worsened (PA decreased/DST increased), maintained, and improved (PA increased/DST decreased). Changes in each exposure were then used to define joint PA-DST change variable with nine mutually exclusive groups. We examined the joint associations of concurrent changes in PA and DST with incident obesity using mixed multivariable-adjusted Poisson models. Results: Of the 30,735 participants, 1,628 (5.3%) developed incident obesity over a mean follow up of 6.9 (± 2.2) years. In the direct effect analyses, improving PA (Incident Rate Ratio (IRR) 0.46 (0.38-0.56)) was associated with a lower risk of incident obesity than maintaining PA, maintaining DST, or improving DST. Compared to the referent group (both PA and DST worsened), all other combinations of PA and DST changes were associated with lower incident obesity risk in the joint association analyses. We observed the largest beneficial associations for improved PA across DST change categories [DST worsened (IRR 0.31 (0.21-0.44)), maintained (IRR 0.34 (0.25-0.46)), or improved (IRR 0.35 (0.22-0.55)]. Conclusion: Improving PA had the most pronounced beneficial associations irrespective of DST changes. Future studies with objective assessments of exposure variables will be helpful to understand the relationship better.

Published

2021-09-30

How to Cite

Paudel, S., del Pozo Cruz, B., Inan-Eroglu, E., Ahmadi, M., & Stamatakis, E. (2021). Associations of changes in physical activity and discretionary screen time with incident obesity: Findings from the UK Biobank: Oral Presentation A10.4. The Health & Fitness Journal of Canada, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.14288/hfjc.v14i3.421

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